Bangladeshi rag trade workers protests over low pay

The protesters smashed vehicles and blocked traffic in Mahakhali district, the site of dozens of clothing factories, as police used tear gas and batons to beat them off the streets. Several were injured in the unrest.

The protests erupted two days after the government raised monthly minimum wages for the country's millions of rag trade workers by about 80 per cent, following months of often violent protests over dire pay and working conditions.

In the first increase since 2006, the official minimum wage has been set at around £30 a month, up from £20.

Most Bangladeshi unions welcomed the rise but workers, backed by the Workers Uniting global union, had been campaigning for a monthly wage of just over £45.

Some union leaders insisted that pay was still inadequate after the rise, because it had not keep pace with the rising cost of living

Bangladesh's clothing exports, mainly to the US and Europe, generate nearly 80 per cent of the impoverished state's export income.

Tesco, H&M, Zara, Gap, Marks & Spencer and Levi Strauss are among the Western trans-nationals who buy in bulk from Bangladesh.